


And just one mistake is all it will take

by AbbySomething



Series: Maybe This Will Be My Year [6]
Category: Samurai Jack (Cartoon)
Genre: Animal Death, Gen, I apologize for nothing, Mythology - Freeform, Sadism en masse, Scottish cursing is the greatest thing ever, Strong Language, abby takes liberties with history and mythological creatures, animal cruelty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 10:40:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8140958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbbySomething/pseuds/AbbySomething
Summary: Make new friends, but keep the old; those are silver, these are gold…





	

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for delay!! lots of things in my life. but dont worry, i will hopefully crank the next few chapters out, take about a short break, and then resume work on the latter half of the series. :3

Aku had discovered, in his many long years as an evil overlord, that he did not like surprises. There were nice surprises, to be fair, but more often than not they were terrible. And as such, he did not like them.

Today marked another example of this.

He awoke to darkness, and immediately his heart jumped. He found a series of metal bars to his right, too close together to slip out of, and kept his hand against it as he rose to his feet and waved wildly with his left hand to feel the area around him. Finding nothing, he tried to call out to Jack.

“Jack,” he hissed, quietly at first then growing audibly when no response was given, “Samurai! Samurai fool! Answer me!”

His eyes were still not adjusting to any light source, so he took a deep breath, trying to calm his erratic thoughts, and slowly stepped away from the bars, moving towards his left. Within a foot out of his original arm’s length, he encountered another set. He paused, and then began moving forward along it, running his hands up and down smoothly to try and find any giveaways to a door, or a latch, or any way out of here.

And then a silky female voice came through the darkness in front of him, and, while it was muffled, Aku could tell it was being broadcast over a speaker by the crackling of the background noise.

“Good afternoon, my fellow bloodthirsters! Boy have we got something special lined up for all of you; a bunch of fresh new challengers, all lined up to bleed for you!”

Aku’s bones rattled with the force of the cheer that followed, and his stomach dropped.

“Ever since such misfortune befell our last reigning champions, we have searched far and wide to bring you the best entertainment around, and lucky for you, we got just what you want. Let me introduce you to our first bloodbag contender: we don’t know much about him, but he is sure to be a lot of fun tonight!”

Whirring filled the room he was in, and something under him creaked and groaned, and the whole room began to quake. Aku tried to run forward, fumbling for a door, and ran straight into another blockage. Light suddenly peeked in a square above him, and he had the sensation of moving upwards slowly. Aku managed to glance around himself, eyes quickly adjusting, and balked as he saw the floor he stood on moving. As soon as the door above was open enough and he was within range, he grabbed onto the edge and scrambled up, not wanting to risk any harm from the moving floor coming too close to the moving door. He then quickly brought himself up to his feet again, and blinked in the mid-afternoon light.

Within a few seconds, he knew where he was, and his blood ran cold.

He was in the Colosseum.

When he had first conquered the planet, many parts of various cultures were destroyed. Once everything had begun to settle into a kind of normalcy, many people and species came to him with ideas they hoped he would support. Ideas that would enforce his rule, entertain him, or allow his kingdom to grow in wealth or power.

The Colosseum had been one of them. He had fully supported it, although giving them funding had not been his move of choice at that time, and as the years had gone on he had lost interest as its notoriety faded. Plus, he had technology and other planets (and eventually the samurai) to worry about! Who would care about something that had been copied over and done better in other forms?

Apparently that was not the case.

Although it was still constructed from stone, the crowd was anything but historic. The seats were filled with cheering, grinning faces of varying colors and shapes, and a large four-paneled screen hovered high above the arena, allowing everyone around them access to a screen. It was focusing in on him as he threw himself out into the light, and he glared up at it only to find himself glaring back.

Within the arena itself, empty sand greeted him. He turned to glance back at the cage he had come from, only to find the trapdoor almost closed again.

“Aww, and look at him! He’s such a tiny, unknowing little thing!” The announcer’s voice mocked, drawing laughter from the crowd, “But don’t worry, you learn fast in this place, or you bleed for us! Preferably, both!”

Aku scowled, trying in desperation to cling to his anger that was threatening to be overwhelmed by panic. The four screens swung to another bland patch of dirt, but it began to move aside as another cage was revealed.

“You are going to like this one, fiends! Introducing the gun-legged, kilt-wearing, bagpipe-playing, buff-tough-gruff second most-wanted man on this planet, the Scotsman!”

Another rambunctious cheer rumbled through Aku, and his heart and stomach dropped into his intestinal area. This was bad. Especially if he was going to be thrown into an arena with a man he had hunted nearly as cruelly as Jack, and Jack wasn’t even there to defend him…

Aku’s legs wobbled as fear threatened to hold him, but he stood his ground as the Scotsman stepped off the rising platform and glared at the crowd around them before turning his hard eyes to Aku.

“Oh, aye!” he growled in a voice like a train engine, “Figures they’d put me with a snivelin’ little nyaff! Couldn’t even be bothered to give me a real challenge!”

Oh, this was great. As long as the Scotsman didn’t recognize him so far, Aku had a slightly better chance of surviving. What had given him away to the fool samurai was his voice; perhaps he could find a way to cover it or change his pitch…

“And lastly, my tasty little morsels, for our final fleshbag, we have a most _delectable_ treat! Let’s bring him out, ghoulies!”

Both Aku and the Scotsman’s head turned to watch a final trapdoor opening, and Aku hoped beyond hope that it was who he thought it would be.

“The baddest of the bad, the most hunted of the hunted, the meat so rare that even the almighty Aku yearned for it, Samuraaaai Jack!”

Aku found himself running towards Jack, planning to greet the samurai just as he stepped, blinking, into the sunlight. His sword had been taken, but Aku knew that was bound to happen. It would be on the weapons display when they brought them up, and Jack would be able to reign destruction easily from there.

Aku also hoped Jack would explain the whole situation to the Scotsman, knowing of their strong friendship. It had been the downfall of many bounty hunters (and on one disappointing occasion, his favorite sirens).

“Wha—?” he heard off to his side, and then the Scotsman came bounding after him, shouting, “Ah no yah don’t! Not me friend!”

“Ohh, it looks like somebody’s eager to start this party! We’re not complaining!” the announcer said bemusedly, but Aku ignored them all as he came up to Jack, who appeared taken aback at all the sudden action.

“Fool! Explain, quickly!” Aku rushed out, and then turned his head only to dodge around behind Jack as the Scotsman took a swing at him with a large fist.

Jack pulled himself together and held up a hand, loosening his stance.

“Friend, please, do not harm him!”

The Scotsman paused, thankfully, and stared between both of them.

“Do yah know this little dobber, Jack?” he asked, pointing at Aku.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Jack sighed, then his face became serious once more as he glanced upwards, “But when did we get here? I only recall checking into the hotel and then—”

“Ya fell asleep and woke up here, right?” the Scotsman huffed and straightened his kilt, a move which Aku would rather have bleached his eyes than seen, “Aye, the same thin’ happened to me two days ago. I think we’re in the Colosseum, laddie.”

“I thought they had stopped gladiator fights in here long ago,” Jack trailed off, looking around only to notice Aku still behind him, whence his gaze turned into a pointed glare. Aku shrugged.

“Oh dear, what’s this? They’re _not_ going to fight?” the woman declared over the speakers, starting a loud chorus of booing, “What shame they bring to us! We’ll be sure to bring entertainment to you folks, because you paid good money to watch these suckers bleed!”

A loud, clanking sound filled the arena, and all eyes turned to watch as yet another trapdoor opened, and a tremendous screech caused everyone to flinch in pain. A large shadow leapt out of the hole, and immediately began to hover in the air, wind bursting from triangle-shaped mufflers extending out like wings from either side of its back. It was obviously robotic, due to the metallic parts and sheen, but the creature it resembled was anything but. It had the head, wings, torso, and front legs of a large reddish-brown bird, and the stomach, hind legs, and tail of a yellow-furred lion. The tail twitched, and the griffin shot like a rocket towards the group, talons flung forward.

The group watched in amazement before all three darted aside, the griffin shooting over them. It rose and curved wide to turn, slowing before racing back towards them. Jack quickly determined it was coming straight at him, and he waited until it drew nearer before rolling to the side once more. Aku backed away from the griffin’s aim like a crab, scuttling in the dirt. It swept low, having aimed for Jack’s grounded torso, before going back high in the air to turn again.

Jack leapt to his feet just as the Scotsman had come up from the ground and eyed the griffin warily.

“So what’s the plan, laddie?”

“Stay alive,” Jack said without looking at his companion, then both tensed as the griffin dove at them again. This time, it slowed as it descended, turning upright within a few feet, and its eyes glowed red before flames shot from its mouth, dual pillars in splitting directions at both of the men. Startled, Jack and the Scotsman almost took too long to pause before leaping away.

The Scotsman bounded forward as the robot seemed to need a moment to recover and reposition into its flight-ready pose, and he took a meaty swing at it. There was a loud “CLANK” as he connected, and the body did tilt in mid-air slightly, but judging by the lack of a dent and the Scotsman pained yell immediately after, it was made of sterner stuff than your run-of-the-mill robot.

Aku had to hold both hands tightly over his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. True, many of the enemies he had witnessed or heard about the Scotsman facing were easily harmed by his powerful punches, but it was hilarious to see this tactic fail so hard.

Jack flinched in sympathy and worry for his friend, but went back to trying to calculate how they would defeat this enemy with no weapons. From what he could observe, the top half appeared to be segmented in order to give the feathered portion a more realistic look, and the bottom half was solid. But if a punch from his friend had done nothing to the segmented half, then it was unlikely they could be pried away easily. He eyed their surroundings, trying to get a better idea of how to bring the beast down.

The griffin took off once more, this time careening towards Aku. Aku nearly leapt out of his skin, but made the smart choice and waited until it was close before diving to the side and allowing it to pass by him…until the griffin made a much sharper turn a second later and came right back at him. Aku jerked awkwardly to avoid the talons by mere inches, and the griffin went straight for Jack next.

Ah. So it was either a learning AI, or whomever was controlling it was steadily testing them for their limits. That meant that the longer this went on, the harder it would be. Jack tensed as the griffin came close, picking up speed now, but jumped over six feet straight into the air instead of trying for the sides. Sure enough, right before it would have caught up to Jack, the talons came out in a wide circle to grab at empty air (or what would have been Jack’s body if he had still been down there). It suddenly corrected its path, twisting awkwardly and with some evident trouble in order to angle itself up and around to come at Jack again. Thankfully he hit the ground before it could get him in the air where he could not control his location at all.

It hung in the air over their heads, and then with no warning a wide span of flame spewed out towards all of them, and the three bolted. Next it switched to shooting fireballs, and for several minutes it alternated between trying to chase each of them down while also spitting fire at their feet to try and herd or harm them.

Finally, Jack had had enough, and when the griffin gave up chasing him in favor of trying to go for the winded Aku, he whipped upon his heels and went after it, and once he deemed himself close enough he jumped up onto its back, hands locking onto the angles where the wings met the body.

The metal was very warm, and the air blowing from the wings was so powerful it nearly threw him off, but Jack clung to it and tried to use his extra body weight to steer the beast around. The griffin gave a loud mechanical screech, flying wildly while it fought Jack for steering control. At that point it had grown closer to the Scotsman, who saw what Jack was doing and leapt up to cling to the front of the machine, arms wrapping around its neck and weighing it down further. The griffin began to fly much slower and closer to the ground, dragging the metal of the Scotsman’s gun-leg and the rubber of the boot on his other foot through the ground. The griffin tried to spin in midair, but it was so slow at that point it merely tipped and began to fly in a large circle, seeming to make a curved path towards the stone wall.

Jack and the Scotsman shared a glance, and then held on tight, doing everything in their power to keep the griffin on that path.

As the wall approached fast, Scotsman and Jack wrenched bodily to the same side, throwing the griffin upside-down on a wild path, and then both men simultaneously let go, collapsing on the ground and scraping skin and cloth as they rolled in the dirt to a stop. The griffin, still struggling to regain control and a path, could not seem to decide to move how it wanted, and its head hit the ground, throwing its balance completely off. It rolled high into the air, and then crashed back down on one side, ripping a wing off. It started to bounce high again but ran straight into the solid wall, where it exploded into fire and hundreds of metal parts.

A chorus of boos and generally displeased noises surrounded them at their victory.

Aku paused to wheeze, watching the two men struggle against the beast and its inevitable end, and he definitely would have laughed at the absurdity if he’d had the breath. But _where_ were their weapons? The fool and the Scotsman were powerful on their own, but weapons would make this whole process so much easier. As best Aku could recall, there should be a series of tunnels underneath their feet, connecting all the cages that they kept their “bloodbags” in. There should be a wall that rose as well, somewhere, that held all the available weapons, with a room nearby to keep the spares.

Aku groaned at the thought, but gathered his wits and strength in order to start moving as quickly as he could back over to rejoin the samurai and the Scotsman and share his news.

Jack and the Scotsman panted hard as they came up on their feet, pain blossoming everywhere.

“Well that was fun,” Scotsman said, huffing a laugh, “But we still need ‘ta find our weapons laddie. I cannae imagine the next creature they send at us will be any easier.”

Jack nodded, collecting himself, and glanced over towards Aku. Assured that he appeared fine, he turned back to his friend. He should not hide the truth, he knew, even if he was not sure how his friend would take it.

“Listen—”

He did not get a chance to finish, as the announcer came on again, also booing in time with the crowd.

“Boo-hoo! What a disappointment you three are! You really just don’t want to give us a good time, don’t you?”

Jack found himself and the Scotsman glaring back at themselves on the screen.

“Well, in that case, I don’t think you three deserve any weapons until one of you shows us your blood. Bring in the next combatant!”

Aku thankfully had reached them at that point, and Jack looked at him while the Scotsman rotated his head around, trying to find out where the next opponent would emerge from. Just a short distance away, the floor began to open, and all eyes became focused on the upcoming danger.

“Samurai,” Aku murmured so the Scotsman would not hear his voice, “There is a large room under us; your weapons will be on a wall somewhere there. We need to find a way down!”

Jack nodded briskly, and then Aku witnessed his eyes focus sharply on the opening trapdoor.

“Wait—!” Aku tried, but Jack was already bolting towards it, also causing a surprised yell from the Scotsman.

Something _whirred_ within the hole as Jack approached. First, a human-sized, snake-like head appeared, sprouting two curving horns like long eyebrows from over its black, tiny eyes. It was covered in smooth, red scales that reflected brightly in the sunlight. It continued to rise, and more and more and _more_ of its body came out from the hole. It didn’t seem to end, even as Jack came close enough to see the floor of its cage starting to lower back down. Eventually, as it coiled massively on the ground in front of the hole, a fine little tapering that marked the end slithered out, and a little thrice-forked tongue darted from the pointed mouth.

Its eyes were watching Jack, and it snapped at him as he breezed past it, sliding down into the hole it had just come out of. The overhead door slid closed a second later, and the wyrm turned its attention over to Aku and the Scotsman.

‘ _Lindworm,’_ Aku’s memory provided, ‘ _A large snake-like creature that sheds its skin every decade and subsequently grows larger with each shedding. Their venomous bite will first paralyze, and then kill a human in less than an hour.’_

That information was useful, but also turned whatever hopes he might have had about this fight being any easier into fears of dying. Again. The lindworm began to move its long body towards them, tongue flickering out intermittently. Aku was roughly yanked closer to the Scotsman, and Aku flinched hard at the stench and sight of his crooked teeth as the man spoke right up in his face.

“What did yah tell Jack?” Scotsman demanded, “What’s he gone fer’ done there?”

Aku looked him in the eyes and made a show of clenching his jaw shut. He really, _really_ did not need to give away his true identity with his voice, and risk two enemies upon him. Regardless of the fact this decision would cause complications, he did not care in the slightest for the Scotsman’s well-being so long as Aku made it out alive at least.

…Well, perhaps he cared _a little_ , as the Scotsman was just as powerful as Jack and was therefore just as valuable an ally for Aku’s struggle to survive. And Jack would likely be upset if his friend died, and Aku would be the first one he’d seek to blame regardless of the truth. Aku still knew they stood upon rocky ground with each other, in spite of whatever semblance of traveling acquaintanceship they might have gained in the past months.

Scotsman curled his lips into a snarl, but let the matter and Aku drop as the lindworm approached, surprisingly fast for such a large creature. Scotsman and Aku dodged to separate sides when the wyrm struck forward, revealing the long, curved fangs when it opened its mouth to try and bite at them. It rotated its head to consider both of them, then chose Aku.

Oh, _of course_.

Aku witnessed the Scotsman running in the opposite direction before he was forced to turn and flee from the slithering death that chased him, hunger deep in its eyes. He was so damn _tired_ of running from these things; when could he be pitted against someone or something where he could actually win?

It was only a short distance before his body was screaming once more in protest at being used so extensively, though he secretly felt a small glimpse of pride at the knowledge that he was lasting far longer than he had before, even if the victory was embittered with the reality that it was partially thanks to the samurai. He’d have to find something else to do; some other way to conserve his energy while also staying alive in time for the samurai to hopefully grab his and the Scotsman’s sword…

He turned as he approached the far wall, his whole body feeling like it was on fire, but he continued to ignore it, driven further by a flare of panic when the lindworm made a far sharper turn than he’d anticipated and was now quickly catching up to him. He made the mistake of turning his head and seeing just how close it was to him. Aku tried his damnedest to gain speed, but it was hopeless at this point; he was running out of energy.

When he turned his head back, he saw the Scotsman running at him with what appeared to be a long, golden sword, but a second later his mind caught up and he recognized it as one of the bladed wings of the fallen mechanical griffin.

The Scotsman stepped up his speed as he neared, holding the blade out to the side in both hands, readying for a heavy strike. Aku waited until another few steps would have collided them, and used what he had left to throw himself to the other side.

The lindworm reared back as the Scotsman swung, and they moved back and forth at each other, each trying hard to strike but being equally matched in speed. Finally, the lindworm made the mistake of trying to strike twice in close range, and the Scotsman bashed the blade into the side of its head on its second attempt. Scotsman knew the wing part was not sharp enough to cut into the giant wyrm from the side, but it obviously made an effective bludgeon and could be stabbed through the scales straight on with enough force.

The lindworm retreated back a few feet, and both parties took a second to breathe.

“I dinnae know why Jack has trusted yah,” the Scotsman panted, staring harshly down at Aku, “But I suppose that if ‘e ‘as earned that from yah, then I should trust yah as well.”

He jutted a large hand down, offering it to Aku to help him up. Unfortunately, Aku’s attention was beyond him, and he pointed away towards the lindworm, eyes going wide.

Scotsman turned in time to see the whole beast shifting, coiling all over itself as it seemed to…fall apart and back together all at once, expanding and contracting in smooth pulses. Its edges were jagged, and for a second Aku was reminded of watching a glitching electronic screen before his mind snapped the pieces together.

“Microbots!” Scotsman said the word like it was a curse, “Damn beastie’s made up of ‘em!”

That was both a good and a bad sign, Aku knew. Microbots were almost exclusive to cyborg species and creatures, as most needed the guidance of a single mind in order to perform even the most simple of tasks. That meant damage to its body would be nigh impossible; but cutting off its head would kill it and the microbots. As was usual in most cases with living beings.

Now they only needed something to cut into its head.

The lindworm finished growing and regenerating, and now its head was easily the size of three men, its body endlessly piled on top of itself and thicker than tree trunks. Aku could almost swear it was smirking at them before it lashed out again, now easily able to cross the distance between them.

Scotsman continued to try and deflect it while the two of them scrambled backwards, but after a few blows the lindworm somehow managed to knock the weapon out of his hands, and headbutt the Scotsman into the air. When he started to come down, the lindworm darted forward and caught him in a coil, which quickly tightened as it layered more of itself over him despite his valiant attempts at shoving, kicking, and even biting the creature. Aku continued to move away, heart pounding, but the lindworm ultimately ran out of length, and gave up on Aku with a snort, turning back to concentrate on the prey it had.

It then began to deliberately squeeze, and the Scotsman cried out when he felt his bones creak under the pressure, while also bringing enough of him out in the open for it to sink its fangs into. Just as it was readying to do this, something hit its body with a dull thud, and it turned to look at the broken piece of wing that fell to the ground with a louder _clangggg_ before looking up to see Aku still panting some distance away.

Aku really had no plan beyond making the lindworm angry enough to drop the Scotsman, or give the Scotsman some opportunity to break himself free, but of course that idea went down the drain when throwing the golden scrapmetal at the lindworm did approximately nothing but seemingly delay the inevitable.

The lindworm made a hiss that Aku could swear was a laugh, and dropped its fangs down as it reared back towards the Scotsman.

Just then, a loud scraping sound came from where the piece of the wing had dropped, and something flashed in a circle around it before the floor dropped away, and all attention turned back to the dark hole.

Jack leapt out high, his blade curving over his head as he turned it to bring it down in a powerful strike towards the lindworm. It screeched and tried to move back, but Jack caught through all its coils, breaking the body into pieces that dissolved upon impact. The Scotsman fell to the ground, taking deep breaths as the microbots fell over him, then followed their retreating source as it tried to regather itself. The booing of the crowd was minuscule compared to the relief Scotsman and Aku felt.

Jack unstrapped the Scotsman’s sword from his back, and helped his friend up before handing it over, the Scotsman grinning wildly upon getting his weapon back.

“Now that’s more like it!” he said triumphantly, clasping Jack on the back hard. Jack gave him a tight smile, and then looked over at Aku before running over to him when he saw the man was not going to come towards him. The Scotsman followed a second later, throwing a glance at their enemy as he did so, although he knew what to expect when he did so.

Aku noticed Jack had something else strapped to his back, and although he was still trying to recover he took interest anyway. Jack hesitated as he came close, and then took the long wooden staff off and handed it over to Aku.

Aku took it after a moment, eager to finally have some kind of weapon while also acknowledging what kind of trust it took for Jack to have thought of him like this, and _want_ him to have some method of defending or attacking. Not only that, but the weapon was reminiscent of one they had both used against each other not too long ago, back when Aku had actively tried to kill him. It was all so…strange, and it brought forth a surge of emotions that he still didn’t recognize, so he tried to focus back on simply surviving.

“I’d say this gives us more even odds, eh?” Scotsman said behind them, and Jack and Aku turned their gazes over to see that the lindworm had expanded again, and now stood as tall as a building and as wide as a truck. Its eyes, even at this distance, seemed to sparkle with sadistic glee. Unfortunately, Aku knew firsthand it would be in for a nasty surprise, as it was now facing the two most dangerous humans on this planet, fully armed with their weapons of choice.

That pride in its eyes was far too close to home for him, and he tensed and swallowed thickly.

Unfortunately, it still seemed to move at the same pace, even if there was much more of it to move, but that was a simple answer: with the microbots no longer condensed, they had redistributed weight around to expand its form to the lindworm’s liking. But thankfully, Aku now knew all of them had experience with how to deal with microbots; he had witnessed Jack tackling a bounty hunter that used the same technology from the view of his enchanted mirror many years ago.

They all moved aside when the lindworm struck down, but the Scotsman and Jack were close enough that they were back in an instant, slicing at the lindworm’s head. Their cuts weren’t deep enough to strike at the real skin underneath, but it still retreated, hissing in distaste. It then chose to try and swipe at them with its body, scraping itself along the ground. Jack and the Scotsman easily dodged, and Aku had recovered just enough to fall flat and roll under the body when it tried to catch him in the middle. The body then moved back over him to try for Jack and the Scotsman again, but they both easily dodged it again, although the movement forced them further away from Aku.

The wyrm and Aku locked eyes, and Aku realized in that moment that he had the only weapon that could not easily pierce through its robotic skin.

It rotated itself back as it struck at him, fangs flashing, and Aku tried to come up with something, anything—

The lindworm came to a halt not a foot in front of him, jaws frozen open as its eyes seemed to be stuck wide in surprise. It made a pained groan, and then its entire body collapsed, all the microbots falling to pieces as the head— the _real_ head— was revealed to be cut into by a long, silvery blade.

Aku scrambled away instinctively, fear still gripping him tight whenever he came within a short distance of the unsheathed weapon. Jack came up a minute later, Scotsman following again, drawing the weapon out of the head of the creature and seeking someplace to wipe the blood off his blade.

“Oh now that is just _rude_ ,” the announcer scoffed, bringing their attention up again, “You go and break our rules about no weapons, and still won’t bleed for us? I think it’s time we broke a few rules ourselves; how about it lovelies?”

A cheer nearly shook the whole structure, and the announcer chuckled.

“That’s what I thought. Well, prepare yourselves, bloodbags, because things are about to get… _Hairy._ ”

The floor shook like an earthquake, and a ceiling began to draw out from the top of the walls around them. Along with that, new walls began to come up from the floor, forming hallways and corridors, but the trouble really started when ones came up between the three of them, separating them in a manner of seconds.

Jack banged on the wall just as darkness overtook them with a resounding _thwump_ of stone, hoping his friend and Aku could still hear him.

“The hole I cut in the floor!” he shouted, “Find it! It leads to the exit!”

A second later, a resounding bang came from his left, and the Scotsman shouted back, voice faint, “Sounds like a plan, Jack!”

There was no response from Aku, so Jack almost tried again before he remembered that his friend still did not know who he traveled with. He would have to hope for Aku’s best then.

* * *

Aku, meanwhile, had heard the samurai, but chose not to respond in fear of the Scotsman just around another wall. Surely the samurai would know better than to expect him to reveal his identity so carelessly.

He stepped forward, reaching his arms out to either side and finding both entrapping walls just wide enough to have both hands touching them, and tried his best to navigate back to where he was positive the hole was; some short distance behind and to his right— no, left, now that he was turned around. He kept the bo staff clutched tight between the forefingers of his right hand, the others spreading out against the stone.

The small, gnawing voice in the back of his mind couldn’t help but ponder on the irony of the situation: where he had once embraced, even been a part of darkness itself, it now stood opposed to him as an enemy. He was not afraid of it, he could recognize that within himself, but rather what lay under that cover.

A perfectly reasonable fear, he knew, as he had often been the one that darkness was hiding.

A small shuffling sound to his right drew his attention and he froze, mind reeling with possibilities.

“This way,” Jack said, and Aku felt the tension leave him in a wave.

Aku started to feel his way forward, croaking out in a whisper, “Where is the Scotsman?”

Jack answered after a long, awkward pause, “I do not know.”

Aku frowned; what had taken the samurai so long to answer with that? What a fool.

“Keep going,” Jack encouraged him after another few moments, “And hurry up.”

Aku snorted, keeping his pace down what was evidently a longer hallway than he had guessed. Suddenly, however, a deep, monstrous growl came from the same direction as Jack, and Aku’s stomach bottomed out at the same time as Jack gave a weak cry of pain.

“Samurai!” Aku abandoned his pace and plan to run forward, brandishing his weapon.

* * *

The Scotsman huffed as he came to another dead end, and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take of this. Already he’d been running back and forth through darkened hallways for several minutes now, and he was quite sure the hole Jack had cut had only been about twenty feet away from him when he’d started. But there were so many walls and hallways now, and he wasn’t sure where he was in relation to anyone or anything anymore.

Even the company of that new, weird stranger Jack had brought with him would have been preferable to this.

He felt his way back around to the hallway he was quite sure he had just come from, and tried to feel his way around more carefully this time, hoping to come across a passageway or anything he might have missed.

He recognized that he had gone down two hallways on his right and one on his left…or was it the other way around? If only these walls weren’t so thick and he weren’t so tired from all the running back and forth all day, he’d be more tempted to just cut his way through them.

That’s when he heard it: the unmistakable sound of something clacking against stone. He ran towards the source, tracing his way down more passageways and slamming into a wall or two in the process. The sound grew closer, and eventually Scotsman breathed a sigh of relief when he heard a familiar gasp close by.

“It’s just me laddie!” Scotsman reassured him, panting hard, “I’m so glad I found yah! Felt like I was gunna be runnin’ around forever in ‘ere!”

“Yes,” Jack answered after a second, “I am glad to have found you too. We should—”

He cut himself off, and the Scotsman was treated with silence.

“What is it—”

“Hush!” A longer pause followed his order, and then Jack whispered, “Do you not hear that?”

Scotsman listened as hard as he could over the pounding in his chest, and found that he could hear a faint scraping some short distance away.

“What in the world?” He asked aloud, and then another voice broke in, one that sent a cold wave of dread down his spine.

“Is this where you ran off to?” Aku’s voice drawled out, and although it didn’t quite ring with the deep, awful tremor his voice typically had, Scotsman still recognized it instantly.

“Aku!” he shouted, drawing his sword, even if he had no idea how he would even hit the demon in this darkness, “I shoulda known it was you behind all ‘a this!”

There was a long, awful pause, but then Jack cried out while Aku laughed, plunging Scotsman’s heart into his stomach, which only worsened when their voices seemed to start to move away.

“No yah don’t yah bastard!” Scotsman shouted, running after the trail of noises.

* * *

Jack was trying his best to move through the dark, walking along at a hurried pace with one hand following the wall and the other holding his sword. He knew the hole had lain directly thirty feet to the southwest of his position when he’d been separated from the others, and now he was tracing around in this maze as directly as he could manage.

He had only been going about for a few minutes when he heard it: a distant clacking, and then the soft, barely-there sound of whispering. While he could not distinguish what the voices were saying, he definitely didn’t think he recognized them, and there would be no reason the Scotsman and Aku would be whispering to each other without Jack having heard Aku screaming and Scotsman yelling in those minutes prior.

Then, from the same direction as the sound, he heard Aku call out to him.

“Jack,” he called out in a sing-song voice, “Did you truly think I would let an opportunity like this go to waste? A chance to take out my two most hated enemies?”

Jack’s mind ceased all thought, and a cold sweat broke over him. In the next instant, he was equally filled with the rage and hurt of betrayal, and the doubt thanks to what little trust he had placed in Aku.

“No,” he snapped aloud, even if he hadn’t meant to speak, “No! I saw you bleed! You have not killed me at any opportunity you had in all these months! You could not—”

Aku laughed, cutting him off, and Jack felt like he was going to be sick from the war of emotions going on in him at that moment.

“An easy illusion! And now that I have you both here, so disadvantaged…”

Jack’s blood ran cold when he heard the Scotsman groan, and his mind would not stop racing with alternating thoughts of revenge and his disbelief that this was exactly what it appeared to be. But he could not risk his friend being killed, no matter what, so he bolted towards their voices, carefully threading his way around the walls he nearly ran into, following the trail of Aku’s ringing laughter until—

A familiar scream echoed throughout the halls, and Jack skidded to a halt.

Aku? But how—

Silence greeted him in response.

He took a breath, and forced all his rampant emotions down with a single determination now.

He closed his eyes, listening.

His heartbeat.

His breathing.

The smallest shuffle, just to his left.

He struck.

* * *

Aku kept the furry creature over him at bay with his left arm, feeling the hot air of its jaws snapping at him while the other one behind him continued to try and get his bo staff away from him, dragging all of them along the ground in a sweaty, dirty pile. The hooves of the one over him kept flailing, digging into his chest and occasionally his face, but Aku did not let up. He would not die under the jaws of some…some…voice-imitating beast!

With a surge of adrenaline, he wrenched the bo staff out of the jaws of the creature behind him and swung it up to whack it across what he hoped was the face of the one over him. Judging by the way it yelped and scooted back and off him, it was a safe bet he had hit somewhere that counted. The one behind him snarled and he snapped the staff backwards, resulting in a satisfying _thwack_.

Aku rolled back onto his feet and kept swinging rapidly in the same direction as the one that had been behind him, each successive hit landing and bringing forth more cries of pain. Upon his sixth or seventh or eighth blow (he wasn’t keeping track), there was an additional, sickening wet _crunch_ , and then the creature’s sounds below him stopped.

Now, the one behind him growled in a different voice.

“Demon!” it spat, “I will tear your throat out!”

It leapt upon his back, trying to bite his neck, but Aku fell awkwardly and they rolled apart, Aku scrambling for his weapon and flailing it wildly in an arc in front of him. The top hit the opposite wall, but even when he yanked it back to continue the motion, the only thing it appeared to meet was the slumped body close behind him. It still startled him, and he accidentally wound up giving it another hard whack before he recognized its position.

He stood upright again, trying to listen over the pounding in his ears.

Nothingness greeted him.

But then he heard it: a deliberately low, barely-there clack of a hoof against stone. He tensed.

He still was not ready when the creature leapt at him again, throwing its whole body weight onto his chest and breaking his grip on his staff, which clattered to the ground just as he did the same. The front hooves of the beast dug into his shoulders, and it rumbled a dark chuckle over him, filling his nose with its foul scent. His right hand grasped around in the dark, but his weapon was nowhere to be found.

Aku brought both hands up when the creature tried to go for his throat, keeping it held just a few inches over his face, though it pressed back harder and harder with each time it tried to reach for flesh. He couldn’t hold out for much longer; whatever adrenaline he’d gained when they’d first ambushed him was gone now, drained by the effort of stopping the first one.

He focused on his determination to survive, using that to get his mind working again.

Using a technique Jack had taught him recently, he curled his right hand’s fingers in, forming almost a paw-like appearance in it before quickly bringing it back and then straight up into the face of the beast, palm striking it hard under what felt like an eye. It yelped again, but Aku, using what knowledge he had on what he supposed their faces to look like, brought his hand back again and thrust it straight on towards the nose.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work as planned: the creature moved at the last second, and he wound up hitting jagged teeth instead, scraping his palm on them. He grit his teeth in pain, but thankfully the shout afterwards indicated it might have hurt his opponent more than anticipated.

Now, Aku brought his fingers into a fist, and slammed his knuckles into the underside of the maw, which _definitely_ hurt the beast, as it now tried to back up and away, hooves scrambling against Aku. Aku dug his left hand through its fur, holding on tight, and punched it in the throat this time, now with more confidence.

It choked and then wheezed, but Aku didn’t let up, continuing to strike in the same spot or area again and again, ignoring the stinging in his hand. Finally, its body went limp, and it collapsed on him.

Aku shifted it off quickly, and then scrambled around to find his weapon. Thankfully that was an easy task, as it hadn’t rolled far away, and then he felt around with the other end of the stick until he felt what he hoped wasn’t the dead one. He gave it another few solid hits anyway.

Aku took his chance, now that he had one, to breathe and recollect himself. He was incredibly grateful that no waves of fear or panic passed over him, just as they had done after his first victory against the El Legarto gang, but he did the relaxing breath technique he recalled anyway.

He had no idea how he’d avoided doing such a simple yet satisfying thing during his immortality— even though he’d had no need to breathe, the idea of taking a moment to gather oneself had somehow slipped past the habits he’d gained over the years. Though, realistically, he knew he’d rather have reveled in his temper and power.

Faintly, in that next moment, he heard a similar _clack-clack_ that seemed to ring in his ears, and he tensed once more.

He quieted his breathing, listening as the sounds alternated between growing louder and softer; closer and further away. Whether it was another creature or Jack (his sandals, damn them, made the same exact noise against stone as those hooves), they made infrequent stops, and yet seemed to grow no closer than they had been before.

Aku chose to contemplate his options:

Regardless of the origin of the noises, if he moved he would likely give away his position. He did not want another beast to surprise him, but on the other hand he didn’t want Jack to come running up thinking he was an enemy. Again.

He would prefer to have the power in his hands, as it were, so he decided that a trap of his own was in order.

Aku inhaled deeply, and then called out, putting on his best weak voice, “Jack? Is that you?”

The footsteps paused.

“Yes,” Jack’s voice called back, sounding a bit forced, “Keep talking; I will come find you.”

‘ _I bet you will._ ’ Aku thought snidely, giving himself a strong stance.

“I am over here,” he called out, “Have you encountered anything yet?”

“Yes, several beasts, but I am glad to have found you.” Jack’s voice now grew steadily closer, “It will be good to not need to face this challenge separated.”

“I agree,” Aku replied casually, tightening his grasp on the staff, “There is better chance at survival in numbers.”

The clacking was weaving back and forth, closer and closer in front of him, and he still could not tell if it was four feet moving slowly or two feet moving normally. Sweat dribbled down his back and sides, and he shuddered.

“This time, certainly,” Jack’s voice said, sounding amused, “But I am also quite capable of fending for myself, you recall.”

“Only always.” Aku’s voice was strained, half a laugh and half disgust. He raised the staff for a strike as the origin of the voice came so close he could hear a soft rustle of cloth or fur.

They stopped just a few feet in front of him.

“I’m right here.” Aku’s voice was barely a whisper.

“So am I.” Jack’s voice retorted, just as quiet.

Aku leapt forward, swinging the staff in a wide arc down, aiming for what would either be the body of a beast or the legs of the samurai. Halfway into his attack, something hit his weapon in mid-air, and although his strike would have been true there was no responding motion to indicate he had actually hit his target. Something clattered to the floor.

The shock shook Aku out of his mindset of attacking, and he quickly ran his hands down the length of the weapon only to find—

A clean cut, mid-way through.

“Oh,” Jack said, sounding genuinely surprised, “It…It really was you.”

“Dammit, Jack,” Aku breathed out, tension rolling out of him, “The first weapon you give me, and you break it within the first hour. _Thanks._ ”

He dripped as much sarcasm as possible into the last word, throwing down the other broken half of his bo staff to the ground.

“I thought you were one of those creatures, leading me into an attack,” Jack clarified, then pointed out: “You also tried to strike at me.”

“Useless details,” Aku snorted, and stepped to one side, “I hope you recall where the exit was, then? Oh, watch your step. There are two of them, dead, to your right.”

“Thankfully, this is in the right direction.” Jack said, and stepped past Aku, stumbling a step over the bodies regardless (as it was pitch-black). Aku had to stifle his laughter.

“We must find the Scotsman first.”

“How do you know he has not found the exit already?”

“…I do not. But he would not leave us behind, either.”

“So we are going to wander aimlessly until we encounter each other, possibly for hours, while risking running into more voice-imitating creatures along the way and growing rapidly more suspicious of every sound we hear?”

Aku didn’t need to see Jack’s glare to feel it upon him. He rolled his eyes, which he was sure Jack knew would be his response.

They passed the next few minutes in silence, Aku following Jack’s steps as best he could, listening intently for any turns he made or anything that did not sound like either of them. At this point, the silence had become something of a comfort; a standard for them when words were understood to not be needed.

Though Aku always welcomed making his own opinion known regardless.

They both nearly jumped out of their skins when a long, low howl echoed around, coming from somewhere further down to their right.

Jack began again, much faster this time, and Aku started to have trouble keeping up in the dark.

“Samurai—” he hissed.

“Left.” Jack stated back, and Aku followed. Another stretch, and then:

“Right.” Pause. “Right again.”

They went on like this for a few minutes, and during that time the sounds of a fight were coming ever closer. Or, more specifically, the combined noises of the creatures growling and barking, the rush of many footsteps, metal scraping against stone, and the Scotsman cursing up a storm.

Jack ran in, sword brandished, and cried out: “Tell me where you are!”

“Another one, aye?” The Scotsman replied when a sudden silence fell in response, “I can take as many of yah as yah got! Just stop! Imitatin’! Me friend!”

With each word he swung harder in an arc around him, this time catching one of the creatures in the side, whence it let out a pathetic yelp. There had initially only been two, of which he’d killed one, but then another had come, and two more shortly after that, as best he could guess in this dark.

Now able to pinpoint where his ally was, Jack was careful to listen and only swing at the hooves in front of him, catching one by surprise. Something gripped his sleeve, and he kicked hard at the source. A growl was his only response, and the teeth let go only to snap at him again, aiming for his arm. Jack swung, but missed; the creature went for his leg.

Or tried to, anyway, as it suddenly cried out and something heavy fell to the floor in front of Jack. The hooves scrambled, teeth clacking, but then Aku— or perhaps his voice— gasped, and another set of feet pawed at the floor.

Jack took the risk and went to his knees, feeling blindly until he caught fur. Something sharp jabbed at his wrist, but he plunged his sword in between his fingers, bringing forth another choked cry of animalistic pain.

Another quickly followed to their sides. Jack let out a sigh of relief, until he heard the Scotsman turn to them, sword scraping on the ground.

“We met on the bridge of Caerbanog,” Jack rushed out, “You called me…many things.”

Scotsman let out a weak sigh, relieved.

“Oh, laddie, I’m so glad its you. I thought I might be going out of me mind, there.”

“Do not worry,” Jack smiled, though he knew no one would see, “I believe this ordeal is over.”

Aku lifted himself, careful of the bruise on his side that would surely form from having taken one of those paws directly.

Jack continued after a moment, “We must leave, now, before we lose the chance. Follow closely.”

He moved past his friend, listening for both sets of feet to follow him before he moved on, giving them instructions on where to turn and go in a stern voice. Jack was still certain of where they needed to go, but there were many walls and passageways that he could not get through without taking some detour or another.

That’s when they all heard it: a low rumbling, starting off low and distant, but it was still enough to shake the ground, each of them feeling it up to their teeth.

None of them wished to find out what _that_ was, so Jack urged them on faster, worry beginning to sprout in his mind in spite of his best efforts to keep it out. What if they did not find it in time; what if the staff had already covered the exit—

Jack stopped in his tracks, and his two followers bumped into him, huffing distastefully.

What was he _doing?!_

Jack could have laughed at the situation, but that rumbling was growing more intense every second.

Without speaking, he dropped down and cleaved a hole in the floor, opposite of the direction he had done before.

He didn’t need to hear Aku say it, but it rang in his head anyway: _Foolish._

“Drop down,” he ordered, and did so himself.

The floor below was still dark, but thankfully only a short distance, and Jack had still had the luck to drop into an open area.

His friend followed soon after, and a few moments later another thud, with a pained grunt, signified Aku having done the same.

Red lights instantly flickered on, and Jack and company were instantly aware of all the creatures of various kinds, sizes, and legendary status they were surrounded by. Overhead, the announcer screamed into the microphone.

“Let them all out! These bloodbags don’t deserve any more restraint!”

All at once, all the cages opened, and a cacophony of noises instantly started.

Over all of it, Jack made the logical choice and screamed “ _Run!”_

The three of them bolted, fighting off the grabbing, twisting limbs and maws of all the varieties of beasts around them, heading for the large steel doors that were slowly closing a short distance ahead of them. Somehow, each of them found an extra burst of speed left in them, and Jack and the Scotsman breezed through the shortening gap. Aku started, but something wrapped around his leg and he gasped, flailing, realizing he was caught directly between the doors which were making no moves to stop. His hands scrambled for purchase on the other side of the metal, trying to pull himself through, but then he could feel the cold steel against his sides and he wanted to scream—

A meaty hand dug into his shirt and _yanked_ him forward, pulling him free and out of the doorway, which slid shut only moments later with a resounding and final clank.

Aku wanted to be sick right then and there, but he realized he had no time for that when the Scotsman and Jack continued running through the only hallway available, so he gathered his senses and stumbled after them, shaking all the while.

Finally, they broke free, blinking hard, into the mid-day sun. Relief flooded through them, even as they kept moving away quickly.

“Would ya believe it,” the Scotsman laughed for all of them, even out of breath as he was moments before, “Those beasties had me thinkin’ _Aku_ was in there with us! Had me scared real good there for a bit!”

* * *

Silence befell the group when Jack finished telling Scotsman about his time with this newly-formed human Aku, and the Scotsman and Aku had not stopped glaring at each other across the table in their tucked-away corner of the bar the whole time. Jack was too exhausted to particularly care.

At least this place was trustworthy, according to the Scotsman: his wife’s cousin’s aunt’s brother-in-law’s friend ran the place, and he had greeted his…distant family with a big hug and several friendly insults.

“So ya conjure up a bit of blood to appear when yer cut open; how do we know that ain’t part of your magic still tryin’ ta trick us?” Scotsman began, and Aku bristled, “How do we know you haven’t placed some kinda spell on Jack to get him to trust you and then—”

As he rose out of his chair in time with his voice lilting, Jack placed a hand on his friend’s arm, encouraging him to sit again.

“I do not ask you to trust him,” Jack said, “I only ask that you trust _me_. Just as you did before you knew his identity.”

“B-But he…” Scotsman tried, but Jack met his eyes with a cool stare that spoke more than words ever could.

Scotsman sagged, and sat back down, now lost for what to say next. Aku let go of some of the tension in his body, and turned his gaze into the mug of water before him. His face stared back in the reflection, and he frowned.

Ultimately, after another stretch of quiet, the Scotsman took a deep breath and tried, much more calmly, “Alright, laddie. I trust yah. The only thing I need ta know is _when_ yer gunna part ways.”

Aku felt his stomach drop, but he did not look up.

“I will know.” Jack replied simply. “When it is clear to me he will be fine on his own, we shall part ways as agreed.”

The Scotsman clearly wasn’t happy with that answer, but he settled back into his chair and glowered into his own drink.

A small part of Jack did want to placate them; as if he was seeking the Scotsman’s approval for Aku. But that was ridiculous, as well as likely impossible. His friend had only changed his mind about Jack, after their first violent meeting, when he’d proven himself to be a good person and an honorable warrior. Aku had thousands of years of tyranny behind him, and was only now just learning to get along in the mortal world.

Aku still struggled harder with the morals Jack was trying to teach than any of his physical training, but Jack was also learning how to phrase things properly for the ex-demon, as well as being patient with his many strange questions and quirks. But Aku, he was discovering, was also _incredibly_ eager to learn, even if it was tucked away under layers of self-centeredness and pride. It was just one of several aspects that he had started to see uncover from Aku, and it was starting to open him up to the idea that Aku was just as complex as any other human, although he did not know (or accept, yet) if those traits had been present before his change.

Being privy to that information, and knowing how far Aku had come in just these past months already, made him feel a desire to share this knowledge with others, so they could see Aku as Jack did too. Even if he was still a childish, angry, egotistical person, all of which were traits most seemed to associate the demon Aku with.

Then again, Jack knew firsthand many mortals here had similar personalities, but they were not as dangerous or powerful as Aku had been.

He was still too tired to try and explain, plus he had no doubt that Aku would jump in and claim he was still every bit the same as he had been before, only without his arsenal of powers. It merely went hand-in-hand with his inflated ego. So instead, he took his time relaxing as best he could, easing the draining tension out.

Out of the blue, the Scotsman seemed to perk up, evidently trying to lighten the mood when he smirked at Jack.

“I ain’t ever heard of anyone takin’ out a herd of leucrocuta’s like that before! I think we just earned ourselves a new record!”

Jack cocked his head.

“Leu..crocuta?”

“Aye!” The Scotsman pointed behind him, an understood gesture to mean what they had encountered before, “The beasts that could imitate our voices! I ‘ad heard stories about them from some travelers from the deserts, but never thought I’d see one. Or a pack of ‘em, for that matter!”

“I had never heard of such a creature,” Jack explained, and then tightened his lips, “It is a shame I could not truly see one, and we were fighting for survival.”

“Ahh, don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll see another one someday!” The Scotsman patted his friend on the back heartily, “Though hopefully it won’t be runnin’ after yah. They’re some of the fastest land animals on record, don’t yah know. Got the biggest bite of all of ‘em too. Nasty things!”

He laughed, and Jack smiled at his enthusiasm. It was a good antidote to the weight he always felt on his shoulders.

Aku sunk further into his chair, unsure if he was glad he was not contributing to this conversation or angry he felt unsafe to do so without repercussion from the two opposite parties.

When Jack clarified that he wanted the Scotsman to fill him in on the last few months of his life, as Jack had spent the previous block of time talking about himself, Aku slumped down as far as he could go and tried his best to simply endure the next few hours of excited, accented yelling.

Later, when Jack and the Scotsman had parted ways, which included the Scotsman giving a _very_ detailed (albeit somewhat untranslated) account of what he would do to Aku if Jack were missing even a hair due to him the next time they met, Jack and Aku walked out of the suburbs of the city towards the sunset, content once again in the silence.

Jack could tell, however, something was bubbling at the top of Aku’s mind, but he let the ex-demon simmer on it until he was ready.

“Why do you welcome his company?” Aku finally asked.

Jack took a few minutes to put together the proper phrasing in his mind, and then he spoke carefully when he was sure he had it right.

“Companionship, when I can find it, is very welcome. Until now, and even after our deal is over, I recognize that my journey must be a lonely one. Very few can travel as I can, or face the dangers I do. I treasure any positive encounters I can, as they are…”

He struggled with how to string together the words for the last part, so as to avoid the risk of riling Aku’s temper while still expressing his own emotions in a way Aku might understand.

“They give you hope.”

Jack looked up sharply at Aku’s profile, eyes widening a fraction. Aku wouldn’t look at him, instead focusing on the horizon. After another long silence, he pinned his gaze to the ground, fingers twitching. He did not need to say the reasons he knew that answer, but the ghosts of painful betrayals still hung in the air.

Jack let out an easy breath.

“Yes, hope. But simple joy from helping others, making new friends, or catching up with old friends is also just as much a motivational factor.”

Aku seemed to relax a fraction.

“Your ideas of joy continue to perplex me. But I suppose I…understand the concept.”

“You did not have any friends when you were a demon?” Jack asked more out of sarcasm than inquiry.

Aku snorted, looking back up.

“It was…still _is_ an entirely human concept. What point would there be in chatting idly about things the other party would find reprehensible or unrelateable? Or, worse yet, bore me with topics I did not care about?”

Jack shook his head, but there was a smile underneath his stony face.

“Then I hope one day, you do understand. I cannot even describe to you how wonderful it feels, but from that alone I wish for you to experience it.”

“Why? Are you experiencing that emotion with _me?_ ”

That send Jack’s mind reeling, and he dropped his mouth open in shock before he realized he did not have an answer yet, so he shut it. He had to scramble quickly, putting together something that was both truthful and honorable to their situation and past. Jack could not say if they were “friends,” because that was obviously a lie, but he had started to recognize hints of more than simple forced civility.

“I feel…something in the same veins, but I think it is more along the lines of, well, admittedly a very awkward traveling companionship. But, I believe it was only natural to happen, as we are learning more about each other every day, and being incredibly civil despite our,” he coughed, “Strained past.”

“That is one way of putting it.” Aku commented, forcing a short laugh, and it brought a thin smile to Jack’s lips as well.

But inside, although the samurai’s words seemed to ring true, Aku chose not to let them worm their way into his brain.

He had enough strange, unnamed emotions rolling around in his head as it was.

**Author's Note:**

> -Obnoxious cackling-
> 
> Aku has laaaayers, Jack. Like an onion. >:D
> 
>  
> 
> My nananananananana betaaaa: [Ka Won!!](http://iwalkandtalk.tumblr.com/)


End file.
